Biden Defends Sanders's Idealism

By Mark Hensch, The Hill

22 April 16

ice President Biden on Thursday said that Hillary Clinton should stop attacking Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for having an ambitious progressive ideology.

“I like the idea of saying, ‘we can do so much more,’” Biden said while riding the Washington, D.C. to Delaware Amtrak train, according to The New York Times.

“I don’t think any Democrat’s ever won saying, ‘We can’t think big – we ought to really downsize here because it’s not realistic,” he added. "C’mon man, this is the Democratic Party! I’m not part of the party that says, ‘Well, we can’t do it.’”

Biden said that President Obama’s tenure proves sweeping change is possible with dedication and hard work.

“Presidents have always been told by really smart people: 'Don’t push something you can’t succeed in – it diminishes your power,’” he said. "I completely disagree with that proposition.

“Everything I’ve ever cared about – with the exception of the president’s brilliant passage of the Affordable Care Act – takes time. The only way to get those big things done is talk about them.”

Clinton has repeatedly attacked Sanders’s progressive ideology as impractical during their heated fight for the Democratic presidential nomination.

She leads the self-described Democratic socialist by just over 1 point nationwide, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls.

Biden ruled out entering the Democratic nominating fray last October, admitting that he felt unprepared after the death of his son Beau Biden to brain cancer earlier that year.

He on Thursday said that he is pleased his popularity did not diminish during a likely bruising presidential campaign.

“If you notice, I beat every Republican in every poll when they thought I was running,” Biden said. "You notice that my favorability was higher than anybody that’s running for office in either party."